Resisting Repression: State and Non-State Attacks Against People Power

Join with Columbus community members to talk about safety for ourselves, for our community organizations and for our movements. As day-to-day life has been criminalized and attacked, so to movements for community safety and power have been under attack, from surveillance to disruption and other interventions, including murder. This panel and community discussion will focus on how we can prepare for the tactics that have been and are deployed against people power, from harassing investigation methods to grand jury subpoenas and more. Sparked by the recently publicized Domestic Terrorism report on the FBI's targeting of "Black Identity Extremist[s]"-- this conversation will move community to take seriously the impact this targeting has already had (and will now have in even more intensified ways) on Black racial justice organizers and communities and all communities struggling against different kinds of oppression.

Light snacks and refreshments provided. This event is free and open to the public.

Panelists:

James Hayes, Momentum(pronouns he/him)James Hayes is a trainer with Momentum.

Amna Akbar, Moritz College of Law(pronouns she/her)Amna Akbar is an Assistant Professor at Moritz College of Law at the Ohio State University.

Uli Cruz, Immigrant Alliance Ohio(pronouns he/him)Uli Cruz started his activist path 20 years ago with the aftermath of the bracero program and now works with IM ALL OHIO focusing on DACA and other immigrant issues in Ohio.

danielle west, Hummingbird Consultants(pronouns she/her or they/them)danielle west is a cultural worker, educator and community organizer. From a suburb south of Dayton, OH, danni is a mixed-class queer white woman of trans experience.

Wriply Bennet, #BlackPride4 & BQIC: Black Queer Intersection Columbus (Moderator)(pronouns she/her)Wriply Marie Bennet is an artist, illustrator, actor, writer and singer born and raised in Ohio. She uses her art to uplift her sisters in the black lives/ black transgender lives movement. Wriply’s work expresses the power, strength, and resilience that trans women of color have to persevere, and the grace and beauty of her culture.